TEXT & INTERVIEW DZENANA MUJADZIC | PUBLISHED IN CHAPTER №VIII »elements« – SUMMER 2023
With great subtlety, Greek-Australian photographer Annika Kafcaloudis transforms the documentary, raw immediacy of a photograph into painting-like images. We talked to her about the creative process as the real starting point of her art and the poetry of the seemingly mundane.
Chapter Your work goes beyond mere documentation of craftsmanship – how does capturing artists in a lucid state of creation, movement and ritualism influence your own way of working?
Annika Kafcaloudis Having a very minimalistic approach to photography, I use the subjects as a starting point but I transform the images in my edit so much it almost romanticizes the idea of the actual photo. In this sense, I can’t really tell if the subjects I work with influence me in my own way of working. Someone once described my photos more as being the way I look at things rather than being about the actual content of the image which I thought was very interesting. But in saying that, even though my gaze doesn’t feel strong or unique to me I think it stylistically establishes the cohesion in my approach.
Chapter The visual quality of your images gives them a painting-like touch. What has shaped your visual style in particular?
Annika Kafcaloudis I get drawn into the representation of color, the vividness and the flatness of medium format photography which I’ve tried to mimic by eye digitally. My photographs are really only half baked while in camera, the rest of the process happens in my editing suite which completely transforms the rawness. I also shoot very close to my subjects as I love looking closely at things, flatting the space into one slice.
Chapter Oftentimes, capturing the seemingly mundane and letting people in on how you experience a subject in that very moment can quickly turn from being the mere creative process to becoming a very personal matter. Have you ever felt personally exposed by the images you create and the mood they convey?
Annika Kafcaloudis I feel the opposite. My images seem to deflect away from me personally as they’re often dark and abstract. I try not to pre-think what an image could be as I’m always disappointed when the result is different to what I imagined. It’s better to let the image become itself in the creative process rather than try and set out to make something specific. Therefore the mood in my images relates to my editing, rather than being a reflection of myself personally.
Chapter Do you remember what inspired you to pick up a photo camera in the first place?
Annika Kafcaloudis As a child I was given a small Kodak camera as a gift and loved the way I could use it to diarize moments. This developed into a quick method of note taking and helped my memory of things. Now, most of my photography feels like I’m archiving what I see as I like to create a capsule of a moment, creating images that might not feel special at the time but will feel special when they’re looked at in years to come.
